


Winter Weather Advisory

by Aeris_Blue



Series: Seasons of Grillster [2]
Category: Undertale
Genre: Building a relationship, Confession, Hijinks, Ice, M/M, Snow, Talking, Winter outing, lots of talking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-18
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-10-12 07:00:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17462813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aeris_Blue/pseuds/Aeris_Blue
Summary: Grillby and Gaster have been together for several months but Grillby is uncertain how to progress the relationship further than “better than friends”.





	Winter Weather Advisory

**Author's Note:**

> Totally not procrastinating/anything/ right now... ehem. I wasn’t going to do a follow up for Autumn but then I thought of a really cute one for Spring and supposed I couldn’t quite skip Winter if that was the case.

The sun gave its last gaze lazily over the snowscape its’ rays scrambled to coat the surface in shades of purples and oranges before it gave way to the night. The first stars began to tease their image into the elaborate patchwork that hung without care over the lightly shoveled path. The skeleton and fire walked nearly shoulder to shoulder while their shoes crunched against the lingering powder below.

“Well we can’t have a snowball fight, for obvious reasons, building a snowmon has the same vein of issues,” Gaster’s hands flew quickly to form the signs that were hurriedly pouring from his mouth.

It was the first real snow of the year and the first one since Gaster had been cognitive enough to recognize what it was and the skeleton was positively ecstatic. Typically the monster was composed, leaning towards stoic, but the way he flustered his signs he appeared to be infinitely younger than he claimed. 

They’d been together for a few months now, every Sunday they seemed to meet sooner and sooner in a desperate attempt to get more time together. Gaster would come by the bar at closing through the week whenever the mood hit him to help with clean up just to shoot the breeze and soak in the bartender’s presence. He also insisted he do whatever dish his hired help carelessly forgot on their way back home then Grillby would take him back home in his beat up truck. But they still weren’t exactly a couple as he’d yet to muster up the courage to ask. 

‘You’re awul excited today,’ he signed slowly.

Gaster’s shoulders rose an almost imperceivable amount, “yes I am, but please don’t make me think about it too much.” He wrapped his thin fingers around Grillby’s and pulled him away from the path, “come on!”

Grillby attempted to dig his heels against the pathway like a stubborn child but his foot slipped on the lingering snow and he impulsively reached out to Gaster for assistance but only managed to pull him down as well. Gaster’s sockets were wide as he stared down at Grillby from atop the monster’s broad chest. A gray blush began to freckle his cheekbones and Grillby just couldn’t resist. He stole a quick peck from across the monster’s teeth which turned the freckles into a full blown blush.

Gaster buried his face against Grillby’s shoulder in a childish attempt to hide his painted features, “How are you still so shy?” Grillby laughed.

The snow on the asphalt began to issue its’ complaints in popping hisses that drowned out Grillby’s flames. Gaster rolled onto the sidewalk then quickly assisted Grillby off the ground, “are you hurt?”

Grillby stretched up to this full height then tilted his neck, “all good,” he assured him though he sparked when he saw his imprint against the sidewalk, “hey there ya go, I made a snow angel,” he crackled.

Gaster grinned, “well we can cross that off the list,” he pulled out his phone and took a picture. “But that’s not what we came this way for!” He grabbed Grillby’s hand again and pulled him off of the trail before he quickly pushed him back onto it, “you are wearing boots aren’t you?”

The snow barely covered the top of their feet but still Grillby chuckled and lifted his pant leg up just enough to see the top of the rubber muck boots. Satisfied Gaster grabbed his hand in both of his then pulled him into the forest.

It never ceased to amaze Grillby how he had lived in Camp for years and visited often but this monster who’d barely been here but a few months knew every nook and cranny of the place. Gaster always lit up the way he was now when he found somewhere new and it was always the first thing he mentioned whenever they’d meet up again. Of course the explanation was always met with a plethora of pictures taken from every angle with such a sense of reverie that his intent behind each shot was almost tangible. Grillby wasn’t one for art but he had a feeling Gaster had quite the knack for photography. 

“You know these woods better than the back of your hand,” Grillby smirked.

“Wouldn’t take much,” Gaster smiled back, “haven’t seen the backs of my hands in years,” he drew Grillby’s attention to the holes in his palms. Right. 

“I’m not allowed into the city really and-” he paused just barely long enough to be noteable, “I don’t have a job. No one really  _ needs  _ me for anything so I have to do something.” He grew quiet, a bit distant, as the eager smile that had been so plain across his features dimmed, “besides I can finally go outside in broad daylight for a few hours without being overstimulated, might as well use that to the fullest of my capabilities.” 

“Have you ever thought about-” Gaster drew a finger up to his teeth as he suddenly dropped to a crouch, his features fixated ahead of him. He signed hurriedly for Grillby to follow suit and dim as low as he could.

Grillby did as he instructed then followed the monster’s line of site to observe a proud steer paw at the fallen snow until a few strands of grass poked through. It’s proud white chest blended against the snow which emphasised the coal black eyes. The horns between the creatures ever twitching ears were massive as they jingled the ice covered branches above. 

It was a bit eerie to watch something that wasn’t aware you were there.

He hadn’t had much luck with animals on the surface as they all seemed to have an innate fear of what he was. In fact this was probably the closest he’d been to anything other than lonely alley cats and the occasional over friendly dog. Gaster pulled his phone up and clicked a picture, the creatures head shot towards the subtle sound of bone against glass. Its’ large black eyes effortlessly caught the twitching flames.

Its’ nostrils flared and its tail twitched, it smashed it’s hooves against the ground and for a terrifying moment Grillby thought he was going to have to fight the poor beast before it turned tail and dashed through the woods. 

Gaster laughed excitedly, “that’s the closest he’s let me get!” He trotted over to where the animal had once been to observe the tracks it left. “We have a similar taste in locations you see so I’ve met him several times.” He displayed a few other images of the deer on his phone before he pocketed it.

“You’re doing what?” Gaster was out, on his own, in the middle of a forest, attempting to get close to animals that had a habit of attacking suddenly. Why was his soul shrugging at this and suggesting this type of behavior was normal? 

“Psh,” Gaster denounced, “no need to go gray on me,” he waved dismissively, “I’m a big skele I don’t do anything I can’t handle.” The monster seemed to notice the hypocrisy of the statement but neither cared for a verbal reminder. 

“But come here,” he gestured for the flame to follow his tracks. “Okay, now,” he looked above him then checked around before he positioned Grillby into a specific spot. At this point Grillby knew to just go along with it asking questions never received answers.

“Now glow,” he smiled with a childlike glee.

They were surrounded by ice covered trees and bent over bushes that gave their best impressions of waterfalls as they connected to the snow filled ground. As he glew brighter his flames caught in every subtle twist in the ice and darkened the underlying plants until the pair’s tiny section of the world was alight in a brilliant dancing orange. Reflections of his flames twirled about them in a mesmerizing display of color. 

It was hard for him to see his flames as something beautiful but Gaster always went out of his way to prove they were such. As the skeleton grinned unabashedly it was difficult to argue with the sentiment. If his flames could round the monster’s harsh eyelights and portray that beautiful glow across his skull then maybe they were beautiful.

“You’re more impressive than the setting sun,” Gaster practically singsonged before he turned his head to see the rupturing of sparks off of the monster.

“Gaster,” magenta coiled through him.

“What? It’s the truth,” he hummed obviously satisfied with himself. “The sun rises and sets but you burn perpetually. You’re a guiding spark of hope.” 

Grillby’s flames retreated closer to his core, this was something Gaster had started up recently. Once his crippling fear of being sucked back into the void faded he developed such an overwhelming sense of appreciation of pretty much anything.

He quickly found himself at the center of these fits of thankfulness and he really wasn’t sure how to respond. Grillby certainly didn’t feel he compared to the sun, or that he served as hope to anything, but the monster spoke so earnestly he wanted to believe him. 

That relaxed smile of Gaster’s teased all of his own fears away and he felt- he felt whole. He felt needed. Like he wasn’t just some leftover relic of a bygone age. He supposed, he felt more alive than he had in a while- but still he had no idea how to handle these fits of compliments. He was terrible with words so he couldn’t return them, he wouldn’t even know how.

When he pulled himself from his thoughts he found himself surrounded by a hot pink forest that shown his own bashful nature back at him. “I’m glad I can make you blush too, I’d be embarrassed if it was just me all of the time,” Gaster’s voice was soft as he gazed up into the frozen branches.

Grillby’s flames crackled back into their regular orange nature which sadly pulled most of the colors out of the clearing, “Gaster, I’ve been wondering-” his voice cut out on him like it had every time he tried asking. They both were like children when they were together, smiling and happy, finding reason to be fascinated with everything they came across.

It wasn’t something that was innate in him, to pause and pick up a fallen leaf to make a comparison, to comment on the tenacity of a snail, or even to care what the creatures of the surface were doing but Gaster inspired that within him.

His phone was used to capture little moments where the light peered through the bar window just right, or his flames made a peculiar reflection in a surface, though the pictures weren’t anything special. The subject matter was probably unimpressive but Gaster always appreciated them so much he found himself compelled to chase sunspots and shadows just to see the excessively generous words he would receive in response. 

Gaster seemed to know it wasn’t quite in his nature to be- a free thinker? Was that the phrase? Someone that saw things in color instead of black and white. It was sort of peculiar that the monster currently dressed in a black stocking cap, black puffy coat, black pants, and black boots could see the world with more colors than the ever shifting flame. 

Was it his time in the all encompassing void that inspired this or was he always like that? 

“Grillby?” Gaster slipped his boney fingers between Grillby’s, “you okay? Not too cold are you?”

It took him a moment to find his words, “I’m alright.” Gaster studied the edges of his flames obviously not convinced. 

“It is almost dark, it’s just going to get colder maybe we should head back,” he looked away shyly even though he stepped closer, their chests almost touching, “nestle up under some blankets, maybe get some coffee or cocoa,” his eyelight dared a quick glance up to the flame then back to the snow. “W-was that right?”

He tried very hard not to smirk, to supress the urge to laugh, “was that right?”

Gaster pulled away his cheekbones a warm gray, “I- well Papyrus thought-” He covered his face, “nevermind.”

Grillby smiled in good humor, “no go ahead, what?”

“I didn’t think- I mean I’ve never,” he flicked his hands a few times, “I just didn’t feel like I spoke or acted like a monster in a relationship so Papyrus and I- well he suggested watching romantic movies. I took notes and I thought that one applied-” He blinked, “Grillby are you okay?”

“You think we’re in a relationship?” He asked numbly.

Gaster’s sockets widened, “are we not? Oh, I am so sorry Grillby I thought-”

He was cut off by Grillby’s bonfire laugh, “I’ve been trying to ask you for weeks if you wanted to,” he shrugged, “make it official, I guess?” Fuku had insisted that if he were to spend more time with the monster he needed to know that they were capable of making at least that level of commitment. He could never fully explain to her what the poor skeleton had been through or how something like that could go from a harmless question to a downward spiral and he really didn’t want to push it. He loved the way they were, just spending time with each other.

“Oh,” Gaster looked up into the branches above them, “I think there might have been a bit of a miscommunication. I thought that’s what the- um,” his thumb pressed to his fingers and pressed together to make the sign for kiss, “was.”

Grillby’s flames puckered, “what do you-” The way Gaster blushed after sudden displays of affection, the way he shied away so strongly when he attempted to flirt, “you’ve never been with anyone before have you?”

He covered his face with his hands as he dropped to squat in the snow, “you knew that already Grillby!”

“N-no I really didn’t,” he crouched down next to him, “I’m sorry with as old as you are-  _ we  _ are I figured you’d been in at least one before.” Gaster shook his head a small squeak of sound escaped him that Grillby wasn’t sure how to interpret, “can I ask why?”

His hands screwed tightly around his humeruses or at least as tightly as they could over the puffy coat, “no one would ever- why would they?” He chuckled darkly, “look at me. I had nothing to give then and I have less now. I’m a stay at home nothing-” he fell back onto his tailbone as he laughed, “I barely exist!”

“Knock it off,” Grillby spat his flames twisted forks that splayed from his body in brilliant reds.

Gaster’s eyelights flicked off, “s-sorry,” he covered his teeth then screwed his sockets tight as he started to rattle. “It just slips out sometimes-” He trailed off.

“No I’m sorry that was too harsh,” Grillby rubbed his face.

Gaster chuckled, “still want to make it official?”

“Of course I do,” he smiled fondly.

“Why?”

“Because I love you,” it blew across his flames without much thought but it had plagued him for a long while. He’d stay asleep for hours just staring at the ceiling with thoughts of the monster. There was a notebook in his dresser drawer dedicated to piecing together any sensation of a memory that he could muster because when he guessed right- when he figured something out and the Gaster’s face lit up his soul glowed with such a pleasant pulse of magic that all he could think of was how he loved him. How he knew he had loved him for longer than he remembered knowing him.

A nervous- what could only be described as a giggle- escaped Gaster’s teeth, “you can’t ask if we’re in a relationship but you can say that without batting an eye.”

“That’s why I was so scared to ask,” he leaned his head against the skeleton’s stocking cap, “I know that’s how I feel and if you weren’t ready for that sort of thing I didn’t want to pressure you.”

Gaster hummed before he gave up his position to sit entirely in the snow, “can I be honest with you?”

“Of course.”

“I- I can’t say it back.”

“That’s fine Gaster I understand-”

“No,” his fingers scratched at his knees, “I want to but-  _ I feel _ ” he bit the phrase out as if he’d never used it before and was uncertain of the pronunciation, “guilty.”

Grillby’s flames twisted in on themselves until they dispersed into one another, “what do you mean?”

Gaster took his time to find the words and Grillby waited patiently, “I think about you alot,  _ alot _ ,” he emphasized, “but it’s not just you I think about. There was a monster in my past that looked a lot like you, sounded a lot like you, acted a lot like you that I have been forced to realize I was rather smitten with. 

“I think of waking up in the middle of the night from a terrible nightmare. Not knowing how to go back to sleep and I’d find my way over to his place only to see him amidst an even worse one. I’d wake him up quietly and we’d talk until he had to go on patrol.”

“Or this one time,” nostalgia smiled across his sockets, “I made a mess of pasta for my dear sons. It was a sticky clump of noodles that was overcooked on the outside and barely warm in the center.” He held his hands out as if he was holding the mess.

“I thought if I dumped enough sauce on it I could fix it but you-  _ he _ assured me I could do better. And we cooked, shoulder to shoulder in my tiny little kitchen.”

“I never loved that monster or I didn’t think I did, I certainly never confessed,” he picked the snow out of the folds in his pants, “and now I’m faced with a monster nearly identical but not at all the same.”

He turned his head to take in Grillby’s featureless face, “does orange juice mean anything to you?”

Grillby’s flames grew close to his core as he thought. He scratched the dark recesses in his mind, the blanks in his memory he’d been so careful to leave open, for any sort of clue but nothing came to him. “I’m sorry, no.”

He bobbed his head a few times, “see? That right there isn’t fair of me to even ask because you’re not that monster. It was so easy at first to keep you separate from him we did so many things that I never could have with him. But the more we just hang out, the more we talk, I just see so much of him in you.”

It was exceptionally cautious, the way his hand moved to Grillby’s cheek and how he tilted his face towards his, “you’re even wearing the glasses I made him.” He pressed his forehead against the warm flames, “is it wrong? To still hold feelings for a monster that never existed.”

Grillby was quiet, he was certain it was driving the monster crazy even if on the outside he was his usual calm stoic self. Words never came easily to him and in this moment he wanted nothing more than to close the minimal distance between them. He wanted to press his flames against the monsters teeth to coax all of the shadows in his soul away with his light. A dozen things to say sprung into his mind: I am that monster. Of course it’s not wrong. You never had feelings for him. You were just scared. You were always too scared. But none of that escaped him.

“Sounds like a handsome soul,” he smirked.

“What?”

“I’d probably fall for him too. Gorgeous flame with good kitchen sense, I’d buckle at the knees,” Grillby faked a swoon but Gaster prevented him from falling into the snow.

“Grillby that’s not-”

“Let me guess he was immaculately dressed and managed to make a tie look like common wear with his precisely tied bow tie,” he nodded in agreeance with himself. There it was: a slight chuckle, “you should look him up see if you could  _ kindle _ your old feelings.”

“Grillby stop,” he covered his teeth as he began to laugh.

“It seems I’ve met my match,” he sighed in faux exasperation.

“You? Never!” Gaster gasped, “you’re so much brighter than he was! And your flames are mesmerising in their fluidity!”

“No! I was too late! Your soul was won by another,” he crossed his elbow over his forehead. 

Grillby had started to piece together that under this monster’s influence he had once been a bit of a pestering soul but he was surprised how easily it came to him. He hadn’t recalled ever feeling much of anything before Fuku. As far as he knew most of his time in the Underground had been spent drinking alone. When he heard the monster laugh without remorse, that strange laugh with the pitches in all the wrong places, he knew full well why the him from then had behaved the way he did.

He could understand why Gaster felt conflicted, he wasn’t  _ that  _ monster, he was still trying to figure out what significance orange juice, but he still felt the same he always had and as he watched the skeleton fall helplessly into the snow in a fit of laughter he knew what he said was true. He loved him. With time he felt the other would be able to say the same but he didn’t need to hear it, he could see it. 

The way the monster’s eyelights rounded when they shared a moment, the way the blush bloomed across his cheeks as he felt feelings he’d never believed himself to have before, how promptly he answered the door every Sunday then acted as if he hadn’t been waiting by it like a lonely dog. He didn’t need to hear it, not yet, not until he was ready.

“Grillby,” the skeleton wheezed, “I can’t get up!”

“What do you mean you can’t get up?”

“I don’t have abs Grillby! I can’t-”

Grillby’s flames twitched subtly, “you don’t-” Sparks rained from him as he recognized the phrase, “oh no, guess you’ll have to ask your secret lover.” He stood up and stomped the snow off of his knee length black coat.

“Grillby!” He reached a hand up helplessly to grab the air as the snow suctioned his meager form into place.

“Alright, alright,” a dangerous yellow hue glew brighter across his face as he effortlessly hefted the near weightless skeleton into the air then up into his arms to carry him across his chest.

Gaster placed his hands against Grillby’s chest to pull away but he hesitated before he drew closer, “thank you.”

Grillby glew brighter, “anytime.” He raised Gaster up towards him to lock in an all encompassing kiss. It surprised him how much he craved the breath of winter from behind Gaster’s teeth, how he missed the sensation of his flames searching for the proper hold to deepen the attachment as far as he could. He didn’t need to breath, didn’t want to, he just wanted to taste the rolling fog of magic that calmed his racing soul and cooled his blistering core. 

When at last he pulled away from him he was greeted with that wonderful gray blush while the skeleton took a bit longer to open his eyes, “you know,” he hummed, “I feel you’re a better kisser than he was.”

“That’s where I draw the line,” he let the skeleton stand on his own, “I am undoubtedly a better kisser.”

“Hmmm, I suppose that’s a bit of a strike in his column then,” he laced his fingers between Grillby’s as they started back towards the trail.

Grillby retraced their previous conversation, made sure to internalize a few of his friends- _his_ _partners_ \- his flames snapped wildly as he recognized that they were exactly what he had wanted what he’d been too afraid to ask- worries. They didn’t need brought up right now but later, perhaps some warm evening as Gaster helped clean up the bar at the end of the night. There was one thing though: “Did you really take notes on romance movies?”

“Oh yes,” he squeezed his hand, “they are quite extensive! I am nothing if not thorough, though I am still uncertain if monsters and humans share the same customs. Not just movies either I’ve been researching the psychology behind it as well. I’m working on creating an ideal algorithm.”

“Algorithm? You’re trying to apply math to love?”

“Everything is math if you break it down far enough,” Gaster half shrugged, “but more so I’ve been focusing on the whole how you display affection aspect. See you very much enjoy physical confirmation of affection.”

“How do you figure?”

“Well you glow brighter when we hold hands, you just about melt when I caress your cheek, and there’s a reason you go for kisses at every opportunity,” his foot scuffed near a melted section of snow on the sidewalk and it took Grillby a moment to remember why that spot was bald

“Alright then how do you display affection?”

Gaster looked up to the sparkling white lights in the sky, “I’m still trying to figure that out. I like holding your hand, it’s comforting but I feel I’m still a bit too-” He searched for a word in the heavens, “I don’t know I feel all puckery when I think of doing much more than that but I don’t mind following your lead.”

Grillby attempted to discern what puckery meant as the former scientist continued, “I like surprising you like fixing your radio, or your truck, it makes me feel useful but I’m not for sure if that’s really that romantic stuff or just my need to be  _ something _ .”

“There are other ways: the infamous flowers, chocolates, and presents but I don’t have any money and neither of us are exactly into impractical objects.” He tapped his teeth together, “the last one, the last one- oh, it’s words of affirmation: needing to be told how much you are wanted, needed, and maybe that’s me? I don’t really- I’m not used to hearing stuff like that so I don’t know.”

“So you aren’t certain?” He flickered wildly.

“No, I haven’t really figured it out, according to my notes-,” he reached into his inventory but Grillby ran his hand over his and drew both against his chest.

His voice was a low crackle, barely louder than a whisper as he drew a breath apart from Gaster, “why don’t we head back to my place nestle under some blankets with a cup of something warm and find out?”

Gaster buried his face behind their joined hands, “you are much better at that than I am,” he barely managed to squeak out. “But,” he cleared his nonexistent throat, “I would like to try that.”

“For science,” Grillby cheered into the crisp night air.

A waxing gibbous shown its’ silver glow atop the settled snow and painted the scene with dark shadows. The light mingled coaxing the shadows into view but the pair coexisted, they needed each other. Each subtle fleck of light atop the mighty spruce trees was only beautiful because of the darkness that allowed it to shine. 

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve never really cared for whole “shipping” mess in fandoms but gosh dang it this one has its claws in me! Haha 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! Here’s my Tumblr That has also been largely hijacked by this ship.


End file.
